Learning network
Bioregioning in Practice
BLC is a founding member of the Bioregional Learning Alliance, an international circle of bioregional practitioners who have been collaborating for two years and are committed to growing the field of bioregioning. Together we have designed a 'Bioregioning in Practice' programme, with varied entry points for whatever level you wish to enter at.
Photo: "Bioregioning with the Burren" by Melissa Stiefel.
We foreground the practice rather than the theory of bioregioning.
From our beginnings, 8 years ago, we aimed to both do the work on the ground to regenerate our bioregion and to share the learning. This action learning approach—learning by doing in the place where we teach—has led to our first in-person course.
What is bioregioning all about? How can I bring my bioregion alive? Join us for a week in July at the Rill Estate for the 'Bioregioning in Practice: South Devon' residential course, 18th-25th July, 2025.
'Bioregioning in Practice: South Devon' is designed to be a collaborative experience that gives the flavour of how we practice bioregioning in South Devon. Bioregioning is the bundle of practices for working regeneratively with landscapes and whole systems in a given bioregion. We do this work in the context of climate breakdown, biodiversity loss, failing economies and political instability. Because we see bioregioning as a relational practice, we pay a good deal of attention to increasing the capacities of vitality, viability and evolution of the networks, flows and relationships that make up the landscapes and human systems such as health and food that we engage with.
The course brings together eight long-term bioregioning practitioners to share their experience and knowledge of how to do this work. We will be covering almost all aspects of bioregioning from economies to ecologies, from culture to politics. There will be a focus on how to start and how to continue; the capacities needed to lead this work; the many entry points into bioregioning and how different places around the world are tackling this work; and how to work with our existing social fabric while it is fraying.
THE EXPERIENCE:
There will be space for asking questions, designing, trying things out, reflecting, asking better questions and sketching out pathways to action. We welcome you bringing your own places, questions and experiences. As well as teaching/learning sessions, discussions and field trips there is the opportunity for 1:1s with the tutors.
- walk through the steps of animating a bioregion
- be introduced to regenerative design for systems, and bioregions in particular
- make deep dives into case studies from around the world
- consider the producer role and the competencies needed for this work
- get into our place-shaped bodies and minds, guided by Pattern Language
- dip into the workings of a bioregional economy
- explore a model for bioregional governance linked to a matrix of indicators for bioregional health
- unpack the complexities of bioregional finance and how to resource our work
- experience first-hand the role of art and ecology in deepening a bioregional culture
- enjoy wonderful food and the South Devon countryside
THE TUTORS:
Isabel Carlisle, BLC - regenerative design, bioregioning practices and competencies
Jane Brady, BLC - communications, design, arts and ecology
Nick Paling, BLC - data and evidence, governance
John Thackara - bioregional livelihoods, case studies
Clare Cooper, Bioregioning Tayside - the producer role
Joel Glanzberg - pattern mind and regenerative design
Oscar Gussinyer, La Garrotxa bioregion, Catalonia - bioregional governance and regenerative design
Tim Crabtree, Wessex bioregion - the bioregional economy and bioregional finance
Bioregional Learning Centre's Bioregioning in Practice course works in tandem with a webinar series. The Bioregional Learning Alliance has teamed up with Gaia Education to offer resources for new bioregioning practitioners. The 10-week webinar series starts on 22 April. You can find all the information and how to sign up here. To get a flavour of our what the Alliance brings together, watch the Bioregional Conversations that we hosted last year.
Alliance participants:
Buckminster Fuller Institute (USA)
Burren College of Art (Ireland)
Bioregional Learning Centre (Devon, UK)
Pattern Mind (USA)
John Thackara (France)
Resilience.Earth (Catalonia, Spain)
Costa Rica Regenerativa and UCI (University for International Cooperation)(Costa Rica)
Enlivened Cooperative (Hawaii, USA)
Colombia Regenerativa (Colombia)
Daniel Christian Wahl (Tramuntana/Mallorca/Balears Regenera)
